Handbags at dawn as raiders target store before launch party

Handbags at dawn as raiders target store before launch party

Handbags at dawn as raiders target store before launch party

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Carla Bruni

Famous fan: Carla Bruni, the "face" of Miss Viv, with one of the handbags

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Roger Vivier store

Smash and grab: the Sloane Square Roger Vivier store which was targeted ahead of the British launch of the Miss Viv bag

Famous fan: Carla Bruni, the "face" of Miss Viv, with one of the handbags

Smash-and-grab raiders seized more than a dozen handbags worth up to £8,000 each on the eve of an exclusive designer fashion launch in London.

The motorbike robbers struck early this morning at the Sloane Street store of Roger Vivier.

After smashing the front windows they grabbed up to 14 limited-edition handbags — hours before they were to feature as the centrepiece of a new product launch.

The bag — called the Miss Viv — was being launched in Britain with a VIP lunch and cocktail party hosted by model Ines de la Fressange.

Carla Bruni, the wife of the French president, owns a Miss Viv bag and was seen with it at the weekend.

Scotland Yard said today they believed the bags had been recovered after two suspected raiders were seized by police after a high-speed chase across London.

Police were called to the store at 12.45am and at least two patrol cars were on the scene within minutes.

They took up the pursuit and the two men crashed in Harley Street, spilling the bags across the pavement.

The suspects — believed to have been riding one motorcycle — crashed after a collision, although it is not clear whether any police vehicles were involved.

One of the men suffered an arm injury and was treated in hospital before being discharged this morning. The two men, both in their twenties, were arrested and were being questioned at a west London police station.

Police are investigating whether the smash-and-grab gang deliberately targeted the store in the knowledge of today's launch.

One possibility is that the bags were stolen with the intention of being copied and sold as genuine goods.

A spokeswoman for Roger Vivier said staff had been putting the bags in the window of the store yesterday in preparation for the event.

The haul included some extremely rare limited-edition alligator handbags worth more than £8,000. Others are worth £1,300 or more.

A spokeswoman said: "They would be very obvious because there are no others in existence. It would have been very difficult to sell them without attracting attention."

She added that the launch was going ahead today at Harry's Bar, and a cocktail party for 100 people at the store this evening.

Detectives suspect a gang that has struck at least three times in recent weeks in central London.

Last week five men on three high-powered motorcycles struck at the jewellers Mappin & Webb in Old Bond Street stealing around £100,000 worth of Rolex watches.